Sand removing apparatus



E. F. SNYDER SAND REMOVING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 20, 1956 June 24, 1958.IIIIIII BY ,Uma

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lthe separation of very tine sand 2,840,240 l SAND REMovING APPARATUSErnest F. Snyder, Long Beach, Calif., assigner to Begs Oil Tool Rentals,Inc., a corporation of California Application December 20, 1956, SerialNo. 629,588

z ciaims. (C1. 21o- 512) This invention relatesgenerally to sandremoving apparatus and more particularly to an improved centrifugalVseparator for removing sand from oil well drilling mud.

Centrifugal separators for removing both `coarse and ne solid particlesfrom liquids are well known in the art and generally comprise a closedchamber within which the contaminated liquid is caused to swirl orrotate at a suflcient speed to throw ythe heavier particles toward theinside peripheral walls of the chamber. These particles then fall bygravity towards the bottom of the chamber and the cleaned liquid isremoved from the center por,-

tion through a suitable outlet pipe. Such separators are extremelyVuseful in oil well drilling operations for remov- V'ing sand fromdrilling mud. Sand in the drilling rnud has afdeleteriouseffect on thevarious control valves and conduits through `which the mud is passed.

` f Present day sand separators employed in the oil industry aregenerally effective in removing a large percentage ofsand from thedrilling mud. However, most of these devicesareextremely bulky andcomplicated in structure.V Further, they are subject to considerablewear as Well as breakdown as a 'consequence of the many diierentcomponent parts making up the device. Usually, 'when 'certain portionsof the apparatus become suiciently worn, itis necessary to` replace theentire sand separating equipment. f Such operation is not only timeconsuming'but is relatively costly.

Bearing the above in mind, it is apprimary object of separating devicefor removing particles from oilfwell drilling mud which isextremely'rugged and employs a minimum number of component parts wherebyit is economical to manufacture and extremely reliable in operation. l

More particularly, an Objectis to provide a centrifugal `type san'dseparator of such rugged construction thatlit may be operated underextremely high pressures to attain correspondingly high velocities andthereby enable up to and even better than two hundred mesh.

Stilly another extremely important 4object of lthis invention is toprovide an improved sand separator which is so designedy that thecomponent parts thereof subject to the most wear may be easily replacedwhereby maintenance costs and time are minimized. Briefly, these andmany otherobje'c'ts and advantages of the present invention are attainedby providing a cylindrical casing section having a tangential inletopening intermediate its endsv for introducing under extremely highpressure mud from which SaudisQ to be removed.

.Thisgcasing `is .arranged toreceive `a `sleeve liner axially.

'the present invention to provide a greatly improved sand 2 through itsupper end. Preferably, the casing is provided with an internal annularshoulder substantially midway `between its ends for holding the sleeveagainst axial movement within` the casing. vA cover plate is thenprovided over the upper end of the casing in fluid tight engagement withthe upper peripheral ,casing end. This cover plateV in turn centrallysupports an outlet pipe yin i `co-axial 'alignment with the casing. Theinner endy of the outlet pipe terminates at a level corresponding to thetangential port opening.

'Thelo'werend of the cylindrical casingris similarly provided with alower cover member to provide a iluid tight peripheral seal. This lowermember inlturn carries a. discharge conduit and valve structure wherebythe pressure within the casing may be controlled'by the valve.

The valve is arranged to control the rateof discharge ilow of the sandand sludge separated from the liquid mud and thereby control thepressure within Vthe casing for optimumuo'peration in accordance withthe mud weight and contemplated contaminants introduced through thetangential port. Preferably, the mudis introduced at :a pressure of to300 pounds per square inch and is caused to swirl at an extremely `highvelocity. lt is this high velocity which enables very ne sand particlesto be span ratedfrom the liquid. The provision of the replaceable linerenables the device to be operated for longrperiods of time with aminimum maintenance expense. A feature ofthe invention resides in theprovision of an annular groove on the underside of the cover member forminimizing the abrasive action of the swirling'liquid during theseparating process.

' VYAbetter understanding of the invention willbe had lreferring to apreferred embodimentpthereof 'as illustrated in' the accompanyingdrawings, in,which:y Y

yFigurel is an `exploded perspective view of the basic component partsof the sand separating apparatus of this invention; H Y Y V Figure `2 isan enlarged elevational cross sectionof the apparatus in assembledposition; and, n

rFigure 3 is a cross section taken in the direction of the arrows 3 3 ofFigure 2.

j( Referring @rst to the exploded Vview of Figure the sand separatingdevice isillustrated asncomprisin'g, a main casing section 19in the form`ofa cylinder provided with upper and 'lower endv flanges 1i and 1 2Intermediate the vend iijanges l1 and A12, there is provided atangential inlet port opening 13 adapted to receive an inlet nozizleV`14 held securely in position by a-ange seat IS'and mating flange 16.The Hnge lofi'riludes an inletcoupliiigf17 for receiving' a suitableVline lfrom a high pressure mud p urnp wherebyv mud maypassedtangentially `,int'owthe 'Cylindri'ca'l Acasing 10. l i Y,

n -AS-shown in Figure l above ther casing ltljthere is provided a sleevemember serving -as fa liner `a'tlal'nted tol be axiallyA receivedvthrough'the topy opening 'ofthe' casing'lt).

Thisfsleeve is in turnv provided with anropening l9fp`osi. tionedsuch-tha't'it will register with the tangential port.

openinglS when in assembled position within the leasing Y1t); f` At'opcover member 20 is Ythen arranged to Seaton 'thewtop ilang'e 1 1 iniiuid tight peripheral .engagement therewith. `'The upperange *cover2iinclud-e`sy an annular 'groove 21 'ori'it's undersidei the purpose4for which will become clearer lasfthe"description proceeds. As shown,the cover 2'() is.k providedwith a central, opening'for'supportingandfreceivingy an outlet pipe 22'.v

ymud pump (not shown).

trated` a lower cover member 23 provided with a central opening forreceiving a fitting 24 in turn adapted to support a discharge conduit25. The discharge conduit 25 is provided with a restricted portionadapted to be coupled to a control valve 26 adjustable vby means of anoperating handle 27.

In Figure 2, the assembled sand separating apparatus is shown in detail.The sleeve liner 18 has an outside diameter slightly larger than theinside diameter of the cylindrical casing 10y and inforder that thesleeve liner may be axially inserted in the upperend of the casing, aninside upper portion thereof is enlarged to accommodate the liner. Anannular shoulder is thus provided at 28 whereby axial movement of theliner within the cylindrical casing 'is '.prevented. As also indicatedin Figure 2, there are provided -Arings 29 and 30 at the upper and lower`endsvof the cylindrical casing to insure a uid tight peripheralengagement between the cover members and the ends of the casing.Suitable bolts are illustrated for securing `these cover members to thecasing ends# Itlwill be noted that the outlet pipe 22 is threadedly'received 1in the central opening of the cover member 20 whereby it maybe readily removed in disassembling the easy disassembly. v v

Referring now to both Figures 2 and 3, the operation of the improvedsand separating `apparatus of this invention will be described. Mud fromwhich sand is to be separated is introduced Vinto the inlet nozzle 14 asindicatedby the arrow 31. This mud is preferably under a pressure of 150to 300 pounds and is supplied through a Because of the tangentialarrangement of the port opening 13 in co-operation with `the nozzleV14,-the incoming mud 31 will swirl. about the inner cylindrical wallsof the liner 18 as clearly indicated in` Figure 3. The velocity of thisincoming mud 31 is `extremely high as a resultof the high pressureemployed `in operating the device and a `relatively large centrifugalforce acting on sand particles within the mudisnestablished. Referringagain to Figure 2, these sand particles 'are `urged Voutwardlyragainstthe `inner wall-of the liner `18 and are slowed down by frictionalengagement with the liner. i As the particles lose their high velocity,they will settle as by gravity -into the lower portionof the cylindricalcasing `l0 and pile up as'indicated at 32.

The cleaned mud will be at the central portion of the cylindrical casing`1t) and is withdrawn through the` outlet pipe 22 as indicated by thearrow 34. Preferably, the outlet pipe, 22'terminates within the sleeveliner 18 at a level L corresponding with the inlet port opening 13.V

is not necessary, the pressure differential between the mud enteringinto the inlet nozzle 14 and discharging at `the outlet 'pipe 34 beingsuticient `to insure that the cleaned mud will be expelled through theoutlet pipe.

Thev removal ofthe cleaned mud from'the outlet. pipe 34 can becontrolled by `means of the discharge valve 26. Thus, for example, ifthe discharge valve 26 is closed down slightly the discharge rate` ofthemud, sludge and sand particles settling within the` conduit 25 isdecreased greater outilow.` Because of the former mentioned `decrease indierentialpressure, the swirling actionwill not take place atvas highavelocity as is the case when the discharge valve 26 vis opened up to itsfull extent and as a result; `the finer sand particles will notlnecessarily be removed but will passup with-the/mud `out the Youtlet Ifi desired, a suction may be applied to the outlet pipe 34 to aid in theremoval of the cleaned mud but such suction casing ysection 10 as shownin Figure 1, there isrilluso l cover member.

pipe 34. Y Thus, closing down of the valve 26 should only be done whenit is desired to simply remove the heavier and coarser particles fromthe mud. The advantage in enabling the valve 26 to be closed down isthat the coarser particles may be rapidly removed and the flow rate ofthe apparatus speeded up for this special operation.

In the case where it is desired to remove all of the particles includingthe very line particles, the discharge valve 26 should be opened as faras possible thereby relieving the building up of the pressure Within thecylin drical casing 10 resulting in a greater differential pressurebetween the inlet mud 31 and the interior of the casing 10. As a result,the swirling velocity is greatly increased to thereby insure that eventhe lighter and liner sand particles will be removed. In such case,there is a greater discharge at 33 from the discharge valve 26 andtherate of removal from outlet pipe 22 is decreased but the mud removedkat Y34 will be cleaner and free from tine particles even down to a sizeof 200 mesh.

The provision of the annular groove 21 on the underside of the upperVcover member 20 provides a smoothly contoured dome' shaped annularportion in which the swirling action may take place with less wear onthe Thus,vthe abrasive action of the sand is distributed over a largerarea by grooving out theA top cover member in contact with the liquid asindicated by the annular groove 21 than would be the case where simply aflat surface presented forming a sharp corner with the upper inner wallsof the sleeve 18. The sleeve, on the other hand, will be subject toabrasive wear during the separating process but because of the describedconstruction of the casing 10 and the upper cover 20, it may be readilyremoved and replaced by a new sleeve linear in a short period of time.

e It Awill thus be appreciated that the present invention provides anextremely rugged and simple sand separating apparatus. There areemployed a minimum number of components which may be ruggedly andreliably secured together in sealed relationship. The various fittingssuch as the outlet pipe 22 and discharge fitting V24 and conduit 25 arearranged to threadedly engage the upper and lower cover members 20 and23 whereby they may bedisassembled andthe entire apparatus readilycleaned.

Because of the featureof a replaceable liner, the present apparatusmaybe operated for long periods ofptime with a minimum ofY maintenanceexpense and time. Further,

because of Vthe very high pressures employed in injecting .mud' to becleanedinto the cylindrical casing 10, very tine particles of sand maybe effectively removed and in actual practice, it has been found that98% of the sand in a rotary drilling mud down to sizes of 200 mesh andeven better have been effectively removed.

Minor modications Within the scope and spirit of the present inventionWill occur to those skilled in the art. The sand separating apparatusdescribed is, therefore, not to be thought of as limited to the exactstructure set forth for illustrative purposes.

What is claimed is:

1.4A device for removing particles carried int a drilling mudcomprising, in` combination: a cylindrical` casing section having'atangential port opening throughits side; a cylindrical sleeve of shorteraxial length than said casing adapted to` be telescoped within the upperportion of said casing to provide an internal liner about said upperportion, said sleeve having a tangential` opening registering with saidtangential portgmcans intermediate the upper and lower ends of saidcasing for securing said sleeve from axial movement within said casing;an upper cover member adapted to cover the upper peripheral end ofl saidcasing in lluid tight engagement,

`said upper cover member having a central opening and ing about ytheinterior of said sleeve; an outlet :pipe

adapted to be received and supported within said central opening in saidcover, said outlet pipe extending axially within said casing section andsleeve and terminating at a point at substantially the same level assaid tangential port opening; a lower cover member adapted to cover thelower peripheral end of said casing in Huid tight engagement; adischarge means supported by said lower cover member for passing saidparticles from the lower end of said casing section; and control valvemeans in said discharge means for controlling the rate of dischargeflow. Y

2. A device according to claim l, in which said means liner whereby theaxial extent of movement of said liner` within said cylindrical casingin a downward direction is limited.

References Cited in the ijle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,776,053 Krebs Ian. 1, 1957

